APLU Joins Science and Higher Ed Associations on Letter to President-elect Trump

APLU President Peter McPherson joined Rush Holt, Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the heads of 27 other national scientific and higher education associations in sending a letter to President-elect Donald Trump urging him to quickly appoint a “nationally respected leader with appropriate engineering, scientific, management and policy skills” to serve as Assistant to the President for Science and Technology.

In the letter, the organizations also requested a meeting with the President-elect or his transition team to suggest candidates for top science and technology posts within the new administration and highlighted the importance of science and technology to solving the greatest challenges of our time.

“We know that one of your top priorities will be to focus on ensuring that the U.S. economy remains strong and continues to grow,” they write in the letter. “If we are to maintain America’s global leadership, and respond to the economic and security challenges currently facing the nation, we must build on our strong history of federal support for innovation, entrepreneurship and science and technology.”

Read the letter in full here.